Excellence deserves to be recognised and celebrated. The 2024 Stray Ferret Business Awards is the event to put your business, people or great initiative in the spotlight!
Make the most of your efforts by reading our top 10 tips for writing your submission for success.
Entries close on January 19, 2024.
Rudding Park in Harrogate will be hosting a Dragons’ Den-style event this month to give local businesses the opportunity to pitch their products to key decision-makers at the luxury resort.
The hotel plans to revitalise the range of gifts it gives to VIP guests, and is looking for fresh ideas from the local business community.
Candidates will have three minutes to pitch their products and will then answer questions from the Rudding Park ‘Dragons’ – Matthew Mackaness (managing director), Karen Tyson (resort general manager), Julia Featherstone (head of rooms division), Matthew Wilkinson (head of kitchens) and Nicola Cook (head of marketing).
The Dragons will be looking for high-quality products with links to travel, lifestyle, food and drink, design or well-being. They must also align with sustainability and/or giving back to the community.
Julia Featherstone, head of rooms division at Rudding Park, said:
“We always strive to surprise and delight our guests, many of whom return time and time again. Our selection of VIP gifts are given to guests to help recognise and reward loyalty, so we are really excited about this initiative and I am hoping we will discover a range of new, quality products to incorporate into our VIP gifting to really wow our guests”.
Nicola Cook, head of marketing at Rudding Park, said:
“I am conscious it can often be quite challenging, particularly for smaller businesses, to get a foot in the door to showcase their products. It occurred to me that a Dragon’s Den-inspired event could be great opportunity for us to discover some amazing products to enhance our guest experience and a chance to showcase some talented local suppliers in a fun and innovative initiative.”
The initiative also supports the Rudding Park Giving Back initiative, as the Rudding Park Dragons will each have a pot of Rudding Park gift vouchers ready to ‘invest’ in charities nominated by candidates who particularly impress.
Dacres still top in Knaresborough
Dacre, Son & Hartley has once again claimed the top spot as Knaresborough’s best-performing estate agent, an accolade it has now held for more than a decade.
The agent’s Knaresborough office sold more than twice as many homes as its nearest competitor in the HG5 and YO26 postcodes, with a total of 75 sales, according to figures from Rightmove. The other companies in the top five sold 35, 31, 30 and 20 each.
This also means that Dacre, Son & Hartley successfully marketed more than a fifth of the 373 homes that sold during the 12-month period across the two postcodes, which include Knaresborough town centre and surrounding villages including Scotton, Arkendale, Coneythorpe, Flaxby, Goldsborough, Kirk Hammerton, Green Hammerton, Whixley and Little Ouseburn.
Dacre, Son & Hartley has had an office in Knaresborough for 45 years and senior associate, Nick Alcock, who is branch manager at the firm’s Knaresborough office, has worked for the business for 28 years. He said:
“With 52 different companies selling homes in the HG5 and YO26 postcodes in the last 12 months, it’s clearly very competitive, but our dominance in the local area is undisputed.”
Dacre, Son & Hartley was founded more than 200 years ago and is Yorkshire’s largest independent estate agent, with 20 offices across North and West Yorkshire.
Read more:
- Business Breakfast: Harrogate care group takes on nearly 90 university students
- Business Breakfast: Knaresborough company acquires Newcastle financial firm
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Business Breakfast: House prices stabilise, data suggest
The Stray Ferret Business Club’s next meeting is a breakfast event on Thursday, October 26 at Banyan in Harrogate from 8am to 10am.
The Business Club provides monthly opportunities to network, make new connections and hear local success stories. Get your tickets by clicking or tapping here.
After a period of deflation, the housing market showed modest signs of stabilisation this month, the latest data from Rightmove suggest.
Property asking prices edged upwards by an average of £1,950 or 0.5% this month, but Yorkshire and the Humber saw a slightly a bigger increase of 0.6%.
This means the average asking price in Yorkshire and the Humber now stands at £248,000, which is a 1.8% increase on this time last year.
However, the national monthly increase of 0.5% is the smallest average asking price increase at this time of year since 2008, and well below the historic norm in October of 1.4%. The number of sales agreed is also 17% below this time last year, as those sellers who are struggling to adjust their price expectations to match current activity levels are finding their homes left on the shelf.
Rightmove said the number of buyers enquiring for each available home for sale is 8% higher than in the more normal, and pre-Covid, 2019 market. It also revealed that a property that receives its first buyer enquiry on the first day of marketing, rather than after two weeks, is 60% more likely to find a buyer.
Patrick McCutcheon, head of residential at Dacre, Son & Hartley, which has 20 offices across Yorkshire, including branches in Harrogate, Ripon, Knaresborough and Pateley Bridge, said:
“Accurate pricing is vitally important in the current market to generate immediate momentum when launching a property to market. There are buyers waiting for the right homes to come onto the market, but most will steer clear of anything overpriced.
“Although it can be tempting for sellers to price high initially on the off chance there’s a buyer waiting in the wings, and then reduce the price later when it doesn’t sell, this can be a risky strategy in the current market.”
Independent school in charity tie-up
Families living in poverty across Yorkshire will benefit from a new charity link-up after pupils at Ashville Prep School in Harrogate chose Zarach as their charity for the year.
Zarach delivers beds and basic provisions to children living in poverty and was set up by Leeds primary school teacher Bex Wilson after she found that some of the children she taught didn’t have a bed to sleep in.
Pupils at Ashville Prep School donated food at their harvest festival service.
Phil Soutar, Head of Ashville Prep School, said:
“The new link-up reflects Ashville’s values of openness, respect for others and a sense of social responsibility. It is not just about raising money or gifting goods for this great charity, it’s also about raising awareness about the daily hardship faced by people in our community.
“We’re immensely proud of the thoughtfulness and empathy shown by our pupils, as we explore more ways in which we can help others and give back to our community.”
The partnership got off to a successful start at the prep school’s harvest festival service, and the Prep School Charity Club will continue to raise money for Zarach for the remainder of the academic year, helping to pay for “bed bundles” which include a mattress, pillow, duvet, pyjamas, sheets, toothpaste and other sanitary and bathroom products.
Last year, the Prep School Charity Club raised more than £2,500 for Guide Dogs.
Read more:
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- Business Breakfast: Masham brewery announces leadership changes
- Business Breakfast: Harrogate environmental firm appoints director
Westmorland Sheepskins set to close Harrogate store
Westmorland Sheepskins on Montpellier Parade is due to close its Harrogate store.
The shop which opened in 2018, specialises in sheepskin, leather, and wool products.
The date of the shop’s closure is uncertain, but the company believe it will be “around June” this year.
Read more:
- Harrogate Town appoints women’s director of football
- Knaresborough teacher assault: all 4 girls arrested released without charge
In a statement, Westmorland Sheepskins told the Stray Ferret:
“We have invested a lot into our website and our bricks and mortar store.
“But, we haven’t been able to renegotiate a flexible extension with our landlord post-covid”.
The Montpellier Parade unit has recently been listed to let on Rightmove for £2,500pcm and is over 1,200 sq. ft.
The company said:
“We have loved being part of the Harrogate community.
“We are now actively seeking other opportunities, collaborations and journeys to go on with the brand”.
Customers will still be able to shop all the products on Westmorland Sheepskin’s online store.
The company has “no doubt” the brand will “pop up” again in the area soon.
Harrogate house prices buoyant, says property expert Kempston Parkes
This story is sponsored by Kempston Parkes.
House prices may plummet elsewhere, but in Harrogate they’ll remain buoyant, the town’s foremost chartered surveyor has said.
Andrew Kempston-Parkes was speaking as one of the biggest national lenders, Nationwide, revealed that UK house prices fell for the fifth consecutive month in January. He said:
“I’ve seen four booms and crashes in my career, and what I know about Harrogate is that when that happens, we’re affected the least.
“Harrogate gets back to its highest values quicker than anywhere outside London. We’re very resilient.
“There might be a contraction across England and Wales over the next 12 months, but it will be relatively shallow, at just 2 to 3%, and here there’ll be no contraction at all.”
Nationwide also warned that “strong economic headwinds” made it unlikely that sales figures would improve soon, meaning it would be “hard for the market to regain much momentum in the near term”.
Mr Kempston-Parkes, who has more than 25 years’ experience in the property industry, said other market indicators told a different story:
“If they were concerned, they wouldn’t be offering 95% loan-to-value mortgages.”
January’s Rightmove data, for example, showed a slight increase in house prices nationally, and lending institutions have done little to tighten availability of loans.
Several factors weigh in Harrogate’s favour according to Mr Kempston-Parkes, including its proximity to Leeds and York, its high levels of employment, the clean environment, good schools, and even custom from the American base at Menwith Hill. He said:
“Harrogate and its environs are still a destination place – people come to live in a spa town in a rural area. Communications are excellent – there are six trains a day to King’s Cross.
“I had a client just yesterday from London who is moving up here to work from home three times a week and stay a couple of nights in London. There are still a lot of people wanting to live here. Half our clients are from outside the town.
“My experience tells me that if there’s any correction here it’ll be mild and we’ll recover more quickly and better than anywhere else. The property market will remain strong.”
Mr Kempston-Parkes earned his professional qualifications form the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in 1997, and founded Kempston-Parkes Chartered Surveyors in 2011. It now employs 14 people from its offices in central Harrogate.
Find out more:
Kempston-Parkes Chartered Surveyors provide surveys and valuations for all purposes, including purchase, inheritance tax, capital gains tax, matrimonial assessments, boundary disputes and Land Registry plans.
For more information, go to www.kempston-parkes.co.uk, or for a confidential conversation about your requirements, call 01423 789111.
Harrogate back in top three happiest places to live in Britain
Harrogate is back in the top three happiest places to live in Great Britain, according to a survey of tens of thousands of residents now in its tenth year.
Property website Rightmove is behind the poll, which measured factors such as community spirit, nature and the opportunity to develop skills locally.
This year’s poll of more than 21,000 people gave the Northumberland market town of Hexham the top spot, Richmond upon Thames in Greater London second place and Harrogate third.
While Harrogate previously topped the “happy at home index” in 2015, the spa town dropped to ninth place in the survey last year.
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- Sneak peek: Harrogate’s new Manhattan-style cocktail bar
- 52 social homes built in Harrogate despite 1,800 households stuck on waiting list
Daryll Digpal, the managing director at Beadnall Copley in Harrogate said:
“Harrogate property prices across both lettings and sales markets soaring due to unprecedented demand fuelled by lockdowns and the Chancellor’s Stamp Duty holiday.
“The town boasts a thriving high street with many international retail brands, a booming hospitality industry and excellent state and private schools.
“Furthermore, at its heart is the famous Stray owned by the Duchy of Lancaster, a much enjoyed haven, particularly over the past 18 months.
“As such is it no surprise that this attractive spa town is one of the country’s happiest places to live.”
Where are the happiest place to live in Britain?
- Hexham, North East – average asking price £297,088
- Richmond upon Thames, Greater London – average asking price £1,196,892
- Harrogate, Yorkshire and Humber – average asking price £353,624
- Hove, South East – average asking price £525,906
- Llandrindod Wells, Wales – average asking price £193,601
- Stirling, Scotland – average asking price £191,226
- Monmouth, Wales – average asking price £312,649
- St Ives, South West – average asking price £494,393
- Anglesey, Wales – average asking price £278,391
- Leamington Spa, West Midlands – average asking price £350,981
- Perth, Scotland – average asking price £167,160
- Hitchin, East of England – average asking price £491,223
- Woodbridge, East of England – average asking price £427,542
- Kendal, North West – average asking price £258,961
- Macclesfield, North West – average asking price £277,772
- Exeter, South West – average asking price £303,215
- Salisbury, South West – average asking price £318,806
- Horsham, South East – average asking price £433,892
- St Albans, East of England – average asking price £632,320
- Guildford, South East – average asking price £542,947
